From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.9 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00 autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,345c9fcf5a67a99f X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 2002-05-23 19:19:27 PST Path: archiver1.google.com!news1.google.com!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed-east.nntpserver.com!nntpserver.com!cox.net!news2.east.cox.net.POSTED!53ab2750!not-for-mail Message-ID: <3CEDA334.3030709@telepath.com> From: Ted Dennison User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:0.9.7) Gecko/20011221 X-Accept-Language: en-us MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Subject: Re: Microsoft takes on ACT References: <4519e058.0205230724.38617c60@posting.google.com> <3CED2E66.DD15C13D@despammed.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Date: Fri, 24 May 2002 02:19:23 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 68.12.51.201 X-Complaints-To: abuse@cox.net X-Trace: news2.east.cox.net 1022206763 68.12.51.201 (Thu, 23 May 2002 22:19:23 EDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Thu, 23 May 2002 22:19:23 EDT Organization: Cox Communications Xref: archiver1.google.com comp.lang.ada:24617 Date: 2002-05-24T02:19:23+00:00 List-Id: chris.danx wrote: > There was another article about microsoft new licensing schemes forcing > schools to only use windows on all of their hardware, even macs! I > attribute this to two things, one schools are run by techno-illeterates and I'd think it more likely that they just find financially-strapped organizations like schools easier pickings for financial blackmail. In the slashdot thread about that, there was an accusation posted by an AC that Microsoft came in and shut down a head-start program he had volunteered at in a very poor area of Iowa becuase they couldn't come up with documentation proving licenses for all the software on their (donated) computers. Since it was from an anonomous account, it has to be taken with a grain of salt. But some folks believed it without question. I consider it a really bad sign that folks would even consider this to be plausable behavior out of a company. That's just despicable beyond belief. > Also there is the fact that the pc sector seems saturated, almost everyone > who wants (or can afford) a pc has one, meaning a great big chunk of their > marker is disappearing day by day. > > Looks like they're getting desparate and clutching at straws! (the idea the I had read one article in Motley Fool (I forget where, sorry) about how Microsoft has basicly been living off of funny-money for the last several years. Something about giving stock options as pay to their employees, then writing off the difference on their taxes when the stock value goes up. ...Ahhh...found the link. Here: http://www.fool.com/portfolios/rulemaker/2000/rulemaker000217.htm The problem with doing this kind of thing, as folks like CFS here in Tulsa a few years back, and Enron a little more publicly have shown, is that if your company's value rests primarily on transient things like its stock value, it can all go away when the wind changes direction. And when it starts to go, it goes *fast*. So when Microsoft stock starts to slip, as it has done recently, its not like your GM or GE stock slipping a bit. Things could get Bad. So anyway, what we *could* be witnessing here is desparate attempts to prevent an Enron-style progressive collapse of the company, by finding new revenue streams during a bad economy. Just a theory.